Alcohol Use Among Pregnant Women Has Increased Since 2011

TUESDAY, Aug. 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) — The prevalence of current alcohol use, binge drinking, and heavy drinking increased among pregnant U.S. women from a low in 2011, according to a study published online July 27 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Emilie Bruzelius, Ph.D., from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, and colleagues examined trends in alcohol consumption during pregnancy using data from 33,729 pregnant U.S. adults (aged 18 to 49 years) identified from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (2011 to 2024). 

The researchers found that the adjusted prevalence of current alcohol use increased from a low of 9.1 percent in 2011-2012 to a high of 15.2 percent in 2021-2022, before decreasing slightly to 14.5 percent in 2023-2024 (prevalence ratio, 1.59). Similar patterns were seen for binge and heavy drinking. Current alcohol use was most common among those who were older (18.2 percent), college graduates (14.7 percent), not married/partnered (18.0 percent), and employed (15.0 percent). Tobacco use and frequent mental distress (≥14 past-month poor mental health days) were each associated with a higher prevalence of any current alcohol use (26.3 versus 11.3 percent and 22.8 versus 11.1 percent, respectively). Tobacco use was strongly associated with binge or heavy drinking.

“When we adjusted for long-term trends using statistical models, we found that each successive two-year period was associated with higher odds of current alcohol use, binge drinking, and heavy drinking during the past month,” Bruzelius said in a statement. “These findings indicate statistically significant increases across the study period.”

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